Restaurant La Vérité

Next to the restaurant La Vérité, BETRAND, a homeless violinist with Christian roots, rescues a young boy called Kid (black, 12) from racist bullies. The Muslim boy is an illegal refugee and quickly becomes Betrand’s protégé. The pair, along with a little dog named Polly, dig scraps out of the dumpsters behind La Vérité. The food tastes awful. In order to improve the taste, Betrand slips cooking tips and recipes into La Vérité’s mailbox. Thanks to the implementation of Betrand’s recipes, the restaurant becomes the talk of the town. This leads to great press and business. As a result, the MAYOR decides to impress his guests -- his Parisian colleagues and the French ambassador -- by treating them to one of La Vérité’s now fabulous dinners. Anticipating such high-status guests, the discriminating owner and head chef SITTERLY can no longer tolerate a homeless violinist loitering in front of his restaurant. He turns to immigration officials to get rid of Betrand and the Boy. Betrand and the Boy share many things in common. Both lost their families in a fire. Both have no future. Additionally, for some strange reason, a banker and a lawyer have hired a private investigator to look into them. Only at the end of the story does it become clear whom they are after and why. Meanwhile, waitress BONA FERRARA is conflicted. Despite the unsavory mayor’s advances and his promise of a better future for both her and her daughter, Bona can’t bring herself to fall in love with him. Kid fancies that Bona has feelings for Betrand, but the match between a working woman and a homeless man seems unlikely. Despite this, a mutual understanding blooms between the two, especially after Betrand, in thanks for her kindness, cooks for Bona and her little daughter at her home. Betrand looks for a a way to make Kid escape from the immigration officials tipped off by the restaurant owner. Distraught but determined to protect the boy, he changes the picture in the passport of his deceased, biological son to that of Kid. With this, Betrand convinces the police that the Boy is his child and saves Kid from being arrested or deported. They begin to feel more like a real father and son. Foiled, a furious Sitterly convinces his violent son and the bullies from the beginning to attack Betrand and the Boy. They kill Polly, the little dog, during the chase. CHRISTMAS: The plot builds while the populace decorates the streets for Christmas. The Mayor sets the date for dinner with his guests at La Vérité, still managed by of the discriminating, brutal restaurant owner. They all prepare for the press to be present. DENOUEMENT: Time for a little friendly revenge. Betrand slips his final cooking tips into La Vérité’s mailbox: a French menu complete with recipes. Sitterly uses the menu’s suggestions. As a result, his distinguished guests fall ill with food poisoning. Although the food poisoning is minor, it’s breaking news for the press and social media. It doesn’t take long before La Vérité (translated to “The Truth” in English) loses all its business and closes down. LA NOUVELLE VERITE: Two months later, the new owner of “La Nouvelle Vérité” invites waitress Bona Ferrara to the restaurant’s grand opening. She doesn’t recognize the new owner, who wears a chef’s uniform and has a clean-shaven face. This changes when the man asks her to become his partner – it’s Betrand! Their shared future, whether romantic or business or both, promises happiness. The re-opening leads us to the final reveal: The banker, lawyer, and private investigator were investigating Betrand because a large manufacturer made one of Betrand’s sauces famous, earned a fortune, and was eager to pay Betrand his fair share for creating it. THE END…. 20 YEARS LATER Kid, a 32-year-old black man, wins his 3rd Michelin Star, by learning from Betrand’s cooking, Chef Sitterly is one of his employees as, like Proverbs 10;12, "hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses".